The invention relates to vehicle washing machines of the type adapted to effect cleaning of the outer surfaces of the body of a vehicle without need for physically engaging such surfaces with surface abrading brushes, cloths, or the like.
Heretofore, vehicle washing machines of the type described have been designed to travel lengthwise of a stationary vehicle and, as an incident thereto, successively apply via nozzles a cleaning solution, e.g. soap, and pressurized rinse water to the surface of the vehicle. A primary drawback of prior machines is that they are not capable of effecting uniform removal of dirt and road film from the outer surfaces of vehicles within the relatively short operational or washing cycles typically required by a practical commercial installation. In this respect, certain prior machines are incapable of removing dirt and road film, while others employing nozzles emitting very high pressure rinse water jets capable of removing dirt and road film are mounted and/or arranged such that dirt and road film are removed in a non-uniform manner, thus creating "stripes" or a "zebra" effect at commercially acceptable machine operating speeds.